A Knife-Thrower at the Carnival  —  Kofi Annan has accused Israel of deliberately targeting UN position in southern Lebanon.  According to the Independent: … In order to have some sense of how plausible this accusation is, it would be useful to examine the statements of the UNIFIL itself prior to this incident.

Hastert Rejects Calls to Disinvite al-Maliki to Speak to Congress  —  WASHINGTON — House Speaker Dennis Hastert has rejected calls Tuesday by congressional Democrats to cancel an address Wednesday by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to a joint session of Congress.

Senate Removes Abortion Option for Young Girls  —  WASHINGTON, July 25 — The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would make it a federal crime to help an under-age girl escape parental notification laws by crossing state lines to obtain an abortion.  —  The bill was approved on a 65-to-34 vote …

Dump Condi: Foreign policy conservatives charge State Dept. has hijacked Bush agenda  —  Conservative national security allies of President Bush are in revolt against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying that she is incompetent and has reversed the administration's national security and foreign policy agenda.

Fox News' Ailes says he's just getting started  —  Firing poison darts at his cable-news competitors and taunting his critics in the media, Fox News Channel boss Roger Ailes celebrated the 10th birthday of his network but instead of cake, served notice that his conquest of other television empires already is under way.

Tax Cuts May Come At a Price, Study Says  —  The federal government will need to either cut spending or raise taxes down the road to pay for extending President Bush's recent tax cuts, the Treasury Department said in a report released yesterday, dismissing the idea popular with many Republicans that such sacrifices can be avoided.

White House Bill Proposes System to Try Detainees  —  WASHINGTON, July 25 — Legislation drafted by the Bush administration setting out new rules on bringing terror detainees to trial would allow hearsay evidence to be introduced unless it was deemed "unreliable" and would permit defendants …

Case Closed  —  THE TRUTH ABOUT THE IRAQI-NIGER "YELLOWCAKE" NEXUS.  —  Now that Joseph and Valerie Wilson's fantasies of having been persecuted by high officials in the administration have been so thoroughly dispelled by Robert Novak (and now that it seems the prosecutor has determined …

Chris Matthews comes unglued on the Imus In The Morning program.  —  If you're a rancher, according to Matthews, you can't be president.  —  Here is an excerpt of audio from Chris Matthews from earlier today on the Imus In The Morning program.  Listening is fine, but you need to really read what he had to say.

The Next Front  —  Pressure is building on Ankara to deal more harshly with cross-border terrorist attacks from Iraq.  —  Mustafa Ozer / AFP-Getty Images  —  Newsweek International  —  July 31, 2006 issue - Israel launched airstrikes on Lebanon in response to attacks by Hizbullah earlier this month …

Hezbollah: Israeli onslaught a surprise  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon - A senior Hezbollah official said Tuesday the guerrillas did not expect Israel to react with an all-out offensive after the capture of two soldiers, the first acknowledgment by the group that it had miscalculated the consequences of the raid two weeks ago.